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ROCKET LIGHTNING PHOTOGRAPHED FROM SPACE
SHUTTLE

Rocket lightning observed over the South Atlantic in 1964

Scientific disbelief in this phenomenon recedes as observations accumulate. We present below a
few short excerpts from a scientific report:

"Video images from space showing a single upward luminous discharge
into the clear night air above a thunderstorm were recorded for the first time during the space
shuttle STS-32 mission, and later during the STS-31 mission and other missions using the shuttle's
payload-bay TV cameras.

.....

"Figure 1 [impossible to reproduce] shows the upward luminous discharge that was seen
to move out of the top of a single thunderstorm during the flight of STS-31. This video image was
taken at 0335:59 UTC 28 April 1990 while the shuttle was on its 55th orbit and passing over
Mauritania, northwest Africa.

.....

"The storm that had the luminous discharge was located at approximately 7.5°N, 4.0°E,
and was about 2000 km from the shuttle's position. The lightning discharge was determined to
be at least 31 km long.

.....

"We are now trying to understand the significance in relationship to the earth's
atmosphere and the global electric circuit."